Flesh + Blood, released in 1985, was Paul Verhoeven’s first American movie. Or at least it was his first movie made with American money for an American studio (although there was a small amount of Dutch and Spanish financing as well). It was in fact shot in Europe, mostly in Spain.

The setting is western Europe in 1501. Movies that took a grim unglamorous view of the Middle Ages were very fashionable at the time (John Boorman’s Excalibur came out a few years earlier) but Flesh + Blood must be just about the grimmest depiction of the period ever put on film.

The Duke of Arnolfini has hired a band of mercenaries to recapture his city for him. Having promised them unlimited loot he then betrays them, driving them off with nothing to show for their efforts on his behalf. He persuades the leader of the mercenaries, Hawkwood (Jack Thompson), to do the dirty work of betrayal for him.

In the course of sacking the city Hawkwood butchers a nun. It is entirely accidental. This becomes the pivotal event of his life. He now intends to buy a farm in the country and devote himself to nursing the nun back to health. He wants no more of killing. His motivation is not entirely clear. It may be that he thinks that by slashing a nun with a sword he has committed a grievous sin. Maybe he was getting disillusioned with war anyway. Maybe there was something about the nun that fascinated him (she’s a young pretty nun).

One of Hawkwood’s lieutenants, Martin (Rutger Hauer), becomes a kind of unofficial leader of the penniless mercenaries. He would like revenge. He is perhaps even more motivated by a desire for money and power. He was cynical enough to begin with but now he realises more strongly than ever that without money and power a man is nothing.

The accidental finding of a statue of St Martin changes everything. The mercenaries’ spiritual leader is the Cardinal (Ronald Lacey). In fact he’s just a crazy priest. He sees the statue as a sign from God. St Martin is of course Martin’s patron saint. This must mean that Martin is destined for greatness, and the statue will lead him to that greatness. Martin is now undisputed leader of the band.

Arnolfini has arranged a marriage for his son Steven (Tom Burlinson). Steven fancies himself as a scholar, a man of science. He’d like to be the next Leonardo da Vinci, inventing cool machines and gadgets.

His intended bride is Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Steven is not keen on the idea of marriage. Agnes has a certain natural adeptness at the art of seduction and she manages to get him interested in her. She also convinces him that their destinies are linked.

Disaster strikes. Agnes is captured by the mercenaries and raped by Martin. It’s a controversial scene but it’s the pivotal moment of the movie. Martin now feels that his destiny is tied up with Agnes. She is now his woman, but she is more than that. She is an obsession.

There are plenty of adventures and disasters in store for all these characters whose fates become hopelessly intertwined.

Verhoeven is intensely interested in religion (although he is hardly a fan of the Catholic Church) and there’s plenty of focus on religious motivations, usually entangled with desire for money, power and sex.

This is not at all a Hollywood movie. Most of the characters do not have straightforward character arcs. They are contradictory multi-faceted characters capable of both good and evil, selfishness and sacrifice. The contradictions in their characters do not necessarily get neatly resolved. The movie suspends moral judgments on the main characters. Viewers will have to decide for themselves how they feel about these people.

This applies in a limited sense to Steven. It applies much more fully to Hawkwood.

Martin and Agnes are the most contradictory and multi-faceted of all. They are not people who have definite goals in mind. They react to situations in which they find themselves in whatever ways seem most advantageous to them at the time. Whether they have any genuine feelings for one another is uncertain. They seem to be motivated not by love but simply by a belief that their destinies are linked in inescapable ways. They are also very definitely motivated by survival. In the circumstances in which they find themselves that’s not entirely unreasonable. Their behaviour seems inconsistent because they adapt to circumstances.

Rutger Hauer is very good. Jack Thompson (an Australian actor I’ve never liked) is surprisingly good, as is yet another Australian actor, Tom Burlinson. The acting honours however go to Jennifer Jason Leigh who gives a wonderfully enigmatic performance.

At times Flesh + Blood is uncomfortable viewing. It’s a movie that takes a very bleak view of human nature, with not a trace of romanticism or idealism. It’s a powerful movie and it is highly recommended.

Arrow’s Blu-Ray looks great and Paul Verhoeven provides another excellent audio commentary.